~ Thinking outside the box about Cambodia

Category Archives: Stories

In Old Man Khmao Town, two swallows sitting on an electrical cable over the Old Péth Chkuort building, were chatting quietly while the monsoon rain was threatening from Paris:Chheu Smaa: Are you ready for the 9 November reception?Phkaï Mphéy: Yes, I am.Chheu Smaa: And your guys?Phkaï Mphéy: Can’t ascertain for sure.Chheu Smaa: What do you mean?Phkaï Mphéy: Two things not clear to them: 1) What are they going to do with thousands and thousands of people in motion? and 2) how are they going to be split between the parade at the Monument of Independence and the reception?Chheu Smaa: What are Duck-and-White’s plans?Phkaï Mphéy: None. Same. None of them know what to do. They talk and threaten like you do on FB.Chheu Smaa: Don’t they understand my mind and decision?Phkaï Mphéy: That, they do. But there is an ocean between understanding and setting up execution plan.Chheu Smaa: And the borders?Phkaï Mphéy: They are on full alert and manned as usual.Chheu Smaa: Thailand,Laos, Vietnam, sea coasts?Phkaï Mphéy: All official checkpoints are fully equipped, but there are more than 500 miles of frontiers and we can’t post one soldier or policeman on every yard?Chheu Smaa: And the airports?Phkaï Mphéy: Airports? Why do you think he’ll fly in like a fly attracted by the bonfire?Chheu Smaa: He doesn’t have the guerrilla disposition like I did with Pol Pot or the Vietnamese.Phkaï Mphéy: Your past disposition is not the same as your present one. And no sign of full cooperation has been received from the 3 neighbors.Chheu Smaa: You mean all 3?Phkaï Mphéy: Yes, all 3.Chheu Smaa: Why?Phkaï Mphéy: Inner River is silent like midnight winter at South Pole. Have you received anything that you don’t want to share or be implemented?Chheu Smaa: That’s why Silver is in Laos.Phkaï Mphéy: Is Silver in the game, or is he like White or Duck? Could he answer the key questions about the reception?Chheu Smaa: What key questions?Phkaï Mphéy: 1) What if you can’t catch him? 2) If you caught him, what will you do the next hour?Chheu Smaa: I’ll catch him and lock him up in the same cell as oppo No. 1 in Thbum Khmaung?Phkaï Mphéy: OK, for question No. 2, but what would you do with him the next day or month? Don’t repeat the error you made with oppo No.1. How about my question No. 1?Chheu Smaa: He has to come in, because otherwise he’ll loose all credibility with his people?Phkaï Mphéy: His credibility with his people is not your problem for the moment. It’s his problem and he’ll own it. The question to you still is: if he’s in and you can’t catch him, what will be your order for us to execute?Chheu Smaa: Now my question to you is: if he’s in, why can’t you catch him?Phkaï Mphéy: We don’t know his whereabouts. Have you heard about Schindler’s List?Chheu Smaa: My son, the Intelligence man, should know?Phkaï Mphéy: That kid, your presumed dauphin, if only he knows where his underwear or shoes are?Chheu Smaa: Easy on him, he’s learning.Phkaï Mphéy: Bad teacher doesn’t make good teaching to unwilling kid!Chheu Smaa: The circle doesn’t seem to close.Phkaï Mphéy: No. You already made the first mistake by arresting oppo No.1, and now trying to arrest oppo No.2?Chheu Smaa: I have to double down, otherwise I’ll lose face.Phkaï Mphéy: Losing face should not be in such a big political and national equation.Chheu Smaa: I can’t turn back the clock. I’ll make the clock going forward for me.Phkaï Mphéy: You’re playing Mugabe’s game.Chheu Smaa: What choice do I have, with hundred and hundred millions $ under my bed and the deal I’ve made with Northern Capital.Phkaï Mphéy: I can’t address that. You threw the dice, and the number came out to haunt you.Chheu Smaa: You’re not helpful.Phkaï Mphéy: The idea and strategies are yours. I execute it. Unclear strategies create high risks in execution, because it will involve people lives.Chheu Smaa: You talk differently now.Phkaï Mphéy: Since 1975, we run a lot around on how to dominate, but the domination has turned out to be different from the original idea.Chheu Smaa: What do you mean?Phkaï Mphéy: Come on, “what do you mean?” Tonlé Sap, Bokor, casinos, dams, Kg Som, Dara Sakor, Ream, Hostile Takeover … that what I mean!Chheu Smaa: You have a piece of it to, haven’t you?Phkaï Mphéy: Yes I do, but nowadays and around my dinner table, the discussions are very tough with my kids who don’t know anybody beside you as the leader, whereas they perfectly know that the world is moving around with different ideas and people all the time. They might show up at the reception and they have already dared me to arrest or shoot them.Chheu Smaa: You look soft!Phkaï Mphéy: Age changes people. You still don’t answer my question No.1.Chheu Smaa: I will be at the spot where he’ll be found and direct the operations myself.Phkaï Mphéy: That’s not the answer. If we know where he will be, we’ll do it for you. And stay where you are to nurse your shoulder pain. Until I get the answer, I can’t justify the order to the troops to arrest him. Only exactly 2 months left to set up the stratagems.Chheu Smaa: True, the pain in the shoulder affects my overall mobility that conditions my relationship with my surroundings. If you were me, what would be your answer to your own question No. 1.Phkaï Mphéy: Pledge incompetence because if I were you I would have let the 2018 elections go on normally. And que sera, sera! I would have listened to people’s voice and heartbeats and respect their ballots.Chheu Smaa: You didn’t say that to me at that time.Phkaï Mphéy: I did, but my suggestion was drowned by those closer and closest to you.Chheu Smaa: You should have insisted.Phkaï Mphéy: Very difficult to penetrate the many rings of brutal bulldogs.Chheu Smaa: You still don’t answer my hypothetical question?Phkaï Mphéy: OK, if you insisted: Be honest with yourself and go and tell the party directly that you have had enough with politics, you don’t have the physical ability to lead anymore, you resign from your position as party leader and LET THE PARTY DECIDE ON HOW TO PROCEED on your replacement. Take the next plane either to Northern Capital for medical treatment like Sihanouk did or to Singapore like Mugabe did.Chheu Smaa: Won’t be that easy.Phkaï Mphéy: What makes you thing that this whole stuff is easy to handle?Chheu Smaa: The party won’t be able to decide.Phkaï Mphéy: Why?Chheu Smaa: There is no dominant person and there could be too many “suitors?”Phkaï Mphéy: You never wanted White or the senator to be your replacement, in case… Instead you play around with the idea of junior. Unintended compounded problems! If you resigned, the party will find a solution the next hour. Same if you dropped dead.Chheu Smaa: Give me one more good reason why I should resign?Phkaï Mphéy: Ready: You will avoid or suffer the consequences of all the voluntary troubles you have created with oppo, the Vietnamese and the Chinese. The mess that you have created will be handled one way or another by your party or successor. Remember the thread David Cameron-Theresa May-Boris Johnson in the Conservative Party of UK politics on Brexit: Theresa May inherited David Cameron’s mess, Boris Johnson inherited Theresa May’s mess, and who knows who will inherit Boris Johnson’s mess?!The good thing is that Cameron and May enjoy their vacations while Boris Johnson is now having a s… of a time.Chheu Smaa: It makes sense, bu I can’t do that.Phkaï Mphéy: Why?Chheu Smaa: History will wipe me out of its book.Phkaï Mphéy: You’ve have made your history since your youth, but future history of the country will be the consequences of your own history. Why would you care about history?Chheu Smaa: My family will live in shame.Phkaï Mphéy: Have you talked to Pol Pot’s children?Chheu Smaa: Do you really think that he will be in the country on 9 November?Phkaï Mphéy: My opinion is worth nothing. It’s your perspective that I need to know.Chheu Smaa: Would the soldiers or policemen drop their guns and shackles like Lon Nol troops did upon our arrival in Phnom Penh in April 1975 or like Pol Pot’s troops did upon our arrival in Phnom Penh in January 1979? That’s history.Phkaï Mphéy: Either history repeats itself or rather like Mr. Kem Ley’s funerals procession in July 2017. My kids were in that procession too.Chheu Smaa: Thanks for the chat. Time to take medicine and write few lines on FB to keep my fans in “like”.Phkaï Mphéy You don’t look good, do you?Chheu Smaa: The shoulder pain’s episode.Phkaï Mphéy: I’ll be waiting for the 9 November plan, if you come up with any.

Both swallows parted after leaving few droppings on the roof of the Old Péth Chkuort building.

Paris XXI: Allô, Paris XXI vous écoute.Tuorl Kôrk: Hello, it’s Tuorl Kôrk speaking.Paris XXI: Good to hear your voice. Aren’t you afraid that your phone is wiretapped?Tuorl Kôrk: It’s always been. What else is new! The more they wiretap, the more the world knows.Paris XXI. Let’s go straight to the point.Tuorl Kôrk: It’s August, and September is next.Paris XXI. I know and I’m ready.Tuorl Kôrk. Can’t greet you when you’re in, because they lay many rings of barbed wire around me.Paris XXI. The “HCM trail” will carry the bag of rice to you.Tuorl Kôrk. Thanks, but remember this: 以逸待劳.Paris XXI. Yeah, choosing the time and place, and confusing the enemy.Tuorl Kôrk. Few critical dates in September: 1: Death of Louis XIV, 2: London was on fire, 4: Los Angeles was founded, 9: Mao Zedong died, 11: Terrorists attacked World Trade Center, 11: I was released on bail but still in house arrest, 12: Germany unified, 15: Agatha Christie was born, 19: New Zealand, first country to grant women the right to vote, 25: William Faulkner was born…Paris XXI: We have the map and the calendar.Tuorl Kôrk: Make it one of the days of Khmer history!Paris XXI. Is your phone on 5G?Tuorl Kôrk: What’s the difference, 4G or 5G, both Chinese and Vietnamese are listening anyway, and it’s good that they do because they even know what time the other guy goes to pee or … if he still can.Paris XXI. What’s the mood inside the lair?Tuorl Kôrk: Pretty nervous ’cause the split is real inside each family. They only focus on arresting “you” by using 擒贼擒王 stratagem, and they don’t have a clue on what to do next. They don’t dare asking their masters because they are f… if their masters know their stupid ruse.Paris XXI. Role reversal of 17 April 1975?Tuorl Kôrk: And the “shoulder pain” of the other guy is not a good sign of encouragement to his sycophants.Paris XXI: What’s the mood on the river banks?Tuorl Kôrk: The tapes of your return in July 2013 and the funerals of Mr. Kem Ley in July 2016 are just too big for their mind. Fear isn’t even the right word.Paris XXI. How the flood could be played?Tuorl Kôrk: It’s neither good for you nor for him.Paris XXI. And the Chinese?Tuorl Kôrk: They won’t come out against you. Catch one who can’t speak Khmer or know nothing about Khmer, and the embassy will deny: it’s too risky for this master.Paris XXI: And the Vietnamese?Tuorl Kôrk: They will just watch and wait to see how the guy handles it.Paris XXI. Any នំបញ្ចុក or “noum kruork” party before?Tuorl Kôrk: Don’t be de-focused. Work first, eat later.Paris XXI. That’s it, right?Tuorl Kôrk. That’s it, for now.

How are you coping with the flood of bad news that constantly come to face the weak strongman in the City of Tonlé Buon Mouk since his bitter and ugly victory after the sham election of 28 July 2018?

Yeah, it’s more than ugly and borderline with dangerous with not only the slow and open absorption of Cambodia by China, but also the continuous here-and-there appropriation by Vietnam since 7 January 1979.

So, you and your students do feel that too, ah!

Yeah, every day when Khmer wakes up, new faces of Chinese appear everywhere, and Chinese characters floating on those green nets and among the cranes like if it was in Shanghai.

Chinafication of Cambodia, courtesy of the weak strongman, isn’t it?!

Yeah, wondering how did he come to selling out Cambodia to China worst than what Chéy Chétha II did for Vietnam. Also wondering how he’ll manage his future, having simultaneously two masters on his back?

But Kacvey, you haven’t mentioned anything about EBA and the rice trade with Italy and Portugal?

Well, the weak strongman seems to pay no attention to the conditions set by EU, but instead he went to China to beg his master for more money leaving his not-very-intelligent-or-clever sycophants dispensing nonsense at the negotiation table in Geneva or Brussels. Either he has no empathy or he has no clue about the fate of the garments workers, so long his power is sitting solidly and autocratically.

How bout, the brouhaha of the possible return to Srok Khmer of the exiled and the bodyguard-militaro-police committee the weak strongman is setting up to “welcome or un-welcome” him?

If from the balcony, you see a pig flying, then you truly are a believer of charlatanism.

Okay, got it! Kacvey, you were earlier wondering how the weak strongman would manage his future, 1st having simultaneously two masters on his back, and if it may be added, 2nd facing with EBA withdrawal, and 3rd preparing for the exiled’s return?

Is there a plausible scenario?

Well, instead of scenario, let just call it: a fictional theory that would define that the weak strongman as having enough of everything, or reaching the end of his rope by giving all up.

To think like that would be crazy and insane!

Thinking crazily and insanely would be better than not thinking at all. Kacvey, how about you strongly keep this concept of “What if…” in mind that the fictional theory could happen like winning, against all odds, the lotto jackpot?

Okay, go ahead.

Just imagine the weak strongman, one morning, realizes that:

he has had enough of everything he has on earth: wealth, power, $3 million-dollar watch … except the “mokod” on his head; has any monk told him that he won’t take anything of that with hi when he “goes”, neither one green buck nor that hellishly expensive watch; any christian would tell him he can’t bring the power he has on earth to match with St Peter’s; his heirs would never burn a real dollar to soothe his soul, instead fake gold paper money will be offered in smoke;

he is physically tired and the pleasure and joy of being extremely wealthy and powerful is no longer shown on his face; instead, it shows permanent anxiety, fear and concern; he can’t spend his wealth or enjoy his power, instead he spends every Joule of his energy to protect the un-spendable wealth and non-enjoyable power; he makes money his servant to corrupt instead of to serve a good cause;

it’s no longer possible to serve two masters at the same time by continuing (1) to pay the eternal debt to Vietnam for the 7 January 1979 deal, (2) to beg for alms from China against relinquishing Khmer lands and bodies of water for Chinese casinos, buildings and “other considerations” in, for example,Koh Kong, and (3) the two masters start to be uneasy between each other, in other words, 3 in a bed have become cumbersome;

the number of immigrants and settlers from both Vietnam and China is getting bigger and bigger on a daily basis that the entire “corrupt” administration has neither authority nor capacity to control anymore;

his popularity is at rock bottom and he is isolating himself more and more inside his Takhmao “lion lair” and in front of his Facebook screen;

he runs out of arguments to convince the Western world to accept his corrupt regime without sanctions against him and his sycophants;

“Made in Cambodia” garments, and “Cambodian rice” are out of the Western world markets and cannot penetrate the Chinese markets, except may be for “rice”, Chinese being a rice eater;

he completely runs out of options on how to resolve the issue of the opposition leader who is under house arrest, as he was, at the first place, the one that created that problem through fictitious and unfounded charges;

his loneliness in making national and international decision and his love of always being the one and only at the top of combined legislative-executive-judiciary authority, as well as the one and only on the top of bodyguard-militaro-police forces have become the feeling of being unwanted and there is no more glory in being alone and at the top;

his sphere of spontaneous and convinced admirers and supporters are nowhere to be found except the artificial ones, gathered by his cronies, who sit like inert puppets listening to his monologue in Koh Pich, and

lastly, his secret scheme of transferring his power to his dauphin seems to hit a wall of internal or intestinal reluctance and criticism of his party members, old or young.

Then, what would happen?

Kacvey, this is where the fictional theory comes in to play. Because he cannot presently solve the two short-term major problems:

– the withdrawal of EBA privileges,
– the constitutional and legal issue regarding the opposition leader under house arrest,

and the two long-term others during his life time:

– the Vietnamese involvement and eternal debt,
– the Chinafication of Cambodia,

he would create a political atmosphere where the burden to solve all above problems would then fall on “somebody else”, and not even his dauphin. As a result, he would escape the blame, his blood pressure would drop, and Cambodia history might be written otherwise.

Who might be that “somebody else”?

Kacvey, it would not be a single person like in his case, but it could well be a mixed bag of elements from the ruling party (excluding the Dirty Dozen, plus) and from the opposition after the results of a “free-and-fair” anticipated legislative election. The earlier, the better, if he doesn’t want to be flown MEDEVAC to Singapore.

That’s absolutely preposterous! The weak strongman giving up all of that? Never. It’s his dream since his childhood. Never. Never ever.

Kacvey, he has realized all his dreams, including fecking Pol Pot in 1977, and his own Khmer Rouge 1979 and 1992. What more would he want? Remember Aesop’s “The Frog and The Ox”? Boom, and its belly bursts and it’s gone, you can’t even use it to make an “angkèp baurk” or its legs as “cuisses de groenouilles à la provençale”; but the ox remains alive. Please take your time to ponder over, alone or with your students, or to refine it, and it’s free! By the way, Gioconda Belli, once, said: “The world has always gone forward when people have dared to have crazy ideas.”

It’s Thanksgiving Day in the United States and for all Americans living around the globe. And Happy Thanksgiving to you!

You might recall a letter sent to you on Thursday 27 November 2014 on the subject of Thanksgiving. But today, let fantasize the imagination differently.

Imagine the weak strongman is invited to a Thanksgiving dinner by one of his American friend who happened to be a fake international zombie observer during the last sham election, and also imagine what would be served at the dinner table. But, Kacvey, the issue here is not about the type, nature, exotics or diet of the dishes, it’s rather about whether the weak strongman has the ability to chew when he has a lot on his plate and to stomach them without having heartburn, indigestion or colic afterwards.

With his recent trips to Singapore and Port Moresby, although he was only seen waving his right hand like a puppet in various photo-ops, he must have been attending endless banquets served by the host countries. So, for a change, the chef has been instructed to only use “local ingredients” that the weak strongman has been promoting.

This is a story that you may wish to share with your students about the notion of truth and its value, as truth has lately been subject of assault from liars, conspirators theorists and adepts of alternative truth or alternative universe. The story went way back to the pre-christian era.

In Book XI of Jewish Antiquities, Josephus narrated the story of Darius who went to bed, but, after resting a brief part of the night, awoke and being unable to sleep any longer, fell to talking to his three bodyguards. Darius asked his first bodyguard whether wine was the strongest thing, and the second whether kings were, and the third whether women were, or whether truth was the strongest of all. Darius also promised his three bodyguards that whoever should give the truest and most intelligent speech on the subject would be bestowed sumptuous and enormous gifts including the honorific title of “Kinsman.”

When Darius had set these questions for them to examine, he took his rest. Then in the morning he summoned the nobles, satraps and toparchs of Persia and Media, and, taking his seat in the place where he was wont to give judgement, he bode each of the bodyguards give his opinion on the matters in question in the hearing of all.

And the first bodyguard began to speak on the power of wine. When he ceased speaking, the second bodyguard began speaking about the power of the king. When he ceased speaking, the third bodyguard began to discourse on women, and then on truth, saying: “I have now shown how great is the strength of women, but none the less both they and the king are weaker than truth. For although the earth is very great and the heavens high and the sun swift, yet all these move in accordance with the will of God, and, since He is true and just, we must for the same reason believe truth also to be the strongest thing, against which no injustice can prevail. Furthermore, all other things that possess strength are by nature mortal and short-lived, but truth is a thing immortal and eternal. And it gives us, not beauty, that fades with time, nor wealth, of which fortune may rob us, but what is just and lawful, and from this it keeps away injustice and puts it to shame.”

The third bodyguard name is Zorobabelos. When Zorobabelos ended his speech on truth, whereupon the assembly acclaimed him as the best speaker, saying that it was truth alone which had unchanging and unaging strength. And the king directed him to ask for something beyond what he himself had promised, for, he said, he would give it to him for being wise and showing himself more intelligent than the others. “You shall,” he added, “be seated next to me and be called my Kinsman.”

When the king had said this, Zorobabelos reminded him of what he had vowed to do if he obtained the throne: this was to rebuild Jerusalem and construct the temple of God there and restore the vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had taken as spoil to Babylon.

Let take a short break from the dirty and insane politics in the City Tonlé Buon Mouk and look back into the Chinese history during the Song Dynasty (宋代- 960-1279 A.D.)

In the Southern Song (北宋) there was a patriot and a general by the name of Yue Fei (岳飞). Yue Fei was known not only for his military prowess and successes, but also for his high ethical standards. To encourage him, his mother asked him to take off his shirt. She then tattooed four Chinese characters on his back: 尽忠报国 (jing zhong bao guo) “serve the country with the utmost loyalty.” Now able to fulfill both his mother’s wish and his duty to the country, Yue Fei promptly went off to battle. Yue Fei was undefeated in battle and was a national symbol of hope during difficult times.

In 1127, several years before Yue Fei became a general, the Jurchens (Jin 金) invaded northern China, forcing the Song dynasty out of its capital Kaifeng and taking Emperor Huizong 宋徽宗, and Emperor Qinzong 宋钦宗, and hundreds of palace officials prisoners including a minister named Qin Hui 秦桧 and his wife Lady Wang 王氏. This marked the end of the Northern Song dynasty 北宋, and the beginning of the Southern Song dynasty under Emperor Gaozong 宋高宗.

While being prisoner in the Jin court, Qin Hui groveled before Emperor Taizong 金太宗 and succeeded in impressing him with his ability to serve. He got himself appointed to a position in the Jin military staff. Meanwhile, the the Jin Dynasty witnessed with alarm the steady growth of anti-Jin forces in the Southern Song Dynasty and the pro-Song insurgency in the north. Staunchly hawkish generals such as Yue Fei and Han Shizhong posed a particular challenge. It was then decided that Qin Hui would be sent back to the south as a mole in the Song government. In 1130 A.D. Qin Hui and his wife were slipped back into Southern Song territory.

In 1138, Gaozong promoted Qin Hui to be Chief Minister. Then Gaozong and Qin Hui made up their mind to reconcile with the Jin Dynasty and put him in charge of deliberations with the Jin. Yue Fei, Han Shizhong 韩世忠, and a large number of officials at court criticized the peace overtures. Aided by his control of the Censorate, Qin Hui purged his enemies and continued negotiations. In 1141 the Jin and Song agreed to a treaty that designated the Yellow River as border between the two states and recognized Gaozong as a “subject” of the Jin. But because there remained opposition to the treaty in both the courts of the Jin and Song, the treaty never came into effect.

Meanwhile, Qin Hui set to work to engineer Yue Fei’s downfall. Qin Hui wrote a memorial which denounced Yue Fei for his arrogance. He invented out of white cloth the story that yue Fei refused to send his army to relieve defenders of Huaxi when they were under Jin attack.

Yue Fei knew that Qin Hui was out to get him, so he volunteered to resign from his post of deputy Military Affairs Commissioner. Emperor Gaozong readily approved his resignation.

The matter did not stop there. One of the top generals, Zhang Jun 张俊 , once Yue Fei’s superior, became jealous of Yue Fei for his feats on the battlefield. Aware of Zhang Jun’s resentment of Yue Fei’s successes, Qin Hui in collusion with Zhang Jun incited subalterns Wang Gui 王贵 and Wang Jun 王俊 in the Yue Army to falsely accuse another subaltern Zhang Xian 张宪 of intending to take control of Xiangyang 襄阳 in order to mount a mutiny to help Yue Fei wrest back his control over the army. They also falsely accused Yue Fei’s son, Yue Yun 岳云, of writing to Zhang Xian to make secret plans for mutiny.

Based on the false testimony of the traitors Wang Gui and Wang Jun, Qin Hui arrested Zhang Xian and put him in the jail of the Court of Judicial Review, where he was tortured. However, Zhang Xian adamantly refused to confess to the fabricated crime. Soon after, Qin Hui requested Emperor Gaozong to order the arrest of Yue Fei and Yue Yun and put them on trial before the Court of Judicial Review.

When Qin Hui’s people arrived to arrest him, Yue Fei said with a smile: “上有天，下有地，会证明我是无罪的。 Heaven and Earth be my witness! I will be vindicated and cleared.”

When Yue Fei and Yue Yun were taken to the Court of Judicial Review, they found a blooded, almost unrecognizable Zhang Xian covered with bruises and injuries sustained during his torture. The sight filled Yue fei with sadness and anger.

The trial judge was Moqi Xie, a Qin Hui political ally. He placed the false testimony of Wang Gui and Wang Jun before Yue Fei and asked in a stern voice: “Hasn’t the government been good to you? Why are you planning a mutiny?”

Yue Fei replied: “上有天， 下有地， 会证明我是无罪的。I have done nothing against the government. You are in charge of law and justice. You must not use trumped-up charges to frame officials loyal to the government and country.”

Other officials present also echoed Moqi Xie, insisting that Yue Fei had seditious intentions. Yue Fei understood the futility of arguing with these partisans of Qin Hui’s clique. He said with a deep sigh: “我今天落在奸贼的手里，虽然有一片忠心，也没法申诉了。I’ve fallen into the hands of a bunch of traitorous thugs. There is no point in trying to prove to you my loyalty and patriotism.”

Qin Hui had assigned Vice Censor-in-Chief He Zhu 何铸 to try Yue Fei. When he began questioning Yue Fei, Yue Fei pulled up his shirt without uttering a word and showed He Zhu his bare back. What greeted He Zhu’s eyes were the four deeply tattooed characters: “尽忠报国– Serve the country with the utmost loyalty.” He Zhu was so shaken that he could not go on with the inquiry. He remanded Yue Fei to his cell. After reviewing some more material related to the case, he could find no evidence to support the allegation of Yue Fei’s seditious intent. He truthfully reported his conclusion to Qin Hui.

Sensing He Zhu’s sympathy for Yue Fei, Qin Hui took him off the case and instructed Moqi Xie to continue fabricating charges against Yue Fei. Moqi Xie insisted that Yue Fei had written to Zhang Xian to make plans for a mutiny. Unable to provide any material evidence, they alleged Zhang Xian had destroyed the letters.

Moqi Xie put the three defendants through more torture, but Yue Fei would not give them the satisfaction of a confession. One day, when Moqi Xie tried to force Yue Fei to compose a confession, Yue Fei wrote down these eight characters: “天日眧眧，天日眧眧 – Heaven be my witness, heaven be my witness.”

After dragging on for two months, the trial still had not produced any conclusion. Everyone in government knew Yue Fei had been framed. However, some who had the courage to petition the Emperor to clear Yue Fei’s name themselves became victims of Qin Hui’s reprisals.

The venerated Han Shizhong went to see Qin Hui, and demanded evidence of Yue Fei’s alleged plans for a mutiny. Qin Hui said in an arrogant and cavalier manner: “岳飞和张宪的信， 虽然没有证据， 但是这件事莫须有。 Although there is no evidence of Yue Fei’s writing to Zhang Xian, one can make a plausible case.”

One day after work, Qin Hui was drinking with his wife Wang by a window. Wang noticed him fiddling with an orange, absent-mindedly gouging the peel with his fingernail. Wang, who was even more ruthless than Qin Hui, understood that Qin Hui was still of two minds about whether to kill Yue Fei immediately. Wang said with a sinister snort: “你这老头儿，好没有决断，要知道缚虎容易放虎难啊！You indecisive coot! It’s easier to tie a tiger down than to set it free.”

Wang’s warning helped make up Qin Hui’s mind. He immediately wrote a note which was secretly delivered to the prison. In a night in January 1142 A.D. the patriotic national hero Yue Fei was murdered. He was only 39. Yue Yun and Zhang Xian suffered the same fate that night.

After Yue Fei’s murder, a prison warden in Lin’an 临安 (today’s Hangzhou 杭州) named Kui Shun 隗顺 secretly buried his remains. Yue Fei’s name was cleared only after the death of Emperor Gaozong, and his remains were moved to Qixia Peak 栖霞岭 for proper burial. A Yue Fei temple was added later east of his tomb. A statue of Yue Fei clad in battle gear now sits in the great hall of the Yue Temple 岳庙. Above the statue hangs an awe-inspiring board inscribed with four characters in Yue Fei’s handwriting: “还我河山 – Give back my country.” Opposite the tomb are four cast-iron kneeling figures with their hands tied behind their backs. They are the despised and hated Qin Hui, his wife Wang, Moqi Xie and Zhang Jun that for centuries ordinary Chinese have visited specifically to spit on. This arrangement is designed to reflect popular admiration for a national hero and revulsion for selfish and corrupted officials and traitors.

For ease and quick reference that your students and you might need in the future, this letter contains links that speak volume about difference when words were spoken and when the speakers change their attitude. Is this hypocrisy in Khmer politics, or are Khmer politicians truly hypocritical?